Nail driver



Jan. 19, 1954 H, 1. VAN ORDEN NAIL DRIVER Filed Feb. l, 1952 AFig.3

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Patented Jan. 19, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates generally to a nail driver, and more particularlyto a nail driver for driving nails into steel, concrete, brick or otherhard building materials.

The primary object oi this invention is to pro`1 vide an improved nailldriving and setting device which is especially designed for drivinghard steel nails into hard building materials such as concrete, brickand steel.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved nail drivingand setting tool which includes a hardened sleeve slidably mountedwithin the body of the tool, said hardened sleeve enclosing the nailduring the driving operation whereby the worker using the tool isprotected from injury through the nail dying out of the driving tool.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved tool fordriving and setting nails into hard building materials, said toolincluding a hardened sleeve adapted to telescope within the tool duringthe driving process.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved tool fordriving and setting nails, said tool being oi simple and comp-actconstruction whereby it may be easily held in one hand of the user whilethe other hand is free to drive on the end of same with a conventionalhammer.

Another object of this invention is to provide 4 an improved naildriving and setting tool which is of simple and compact constructionwhereby it may be economically manufactured.

Another object of this invention is to provide a tool for driving nails,said tool including a nail engaging shaft which has mounted in its nailengaging end a permanent magnet for retaining a nail on the end of thedriving shaft.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved nail drivingshaft which has a centl'al longitudinally extending bore in its nailengaging end, said bore having a permanent magnet disposed therein forretaining a nail on the end of the driving shaft.

A further object of this invention is to provide 1 struction,combination and arrangement of elements and portions as will behereinafter described in detail in the specication, particularly pointedout in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawingswhich form a material part of this application and in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the nail driving and setting tool,which is the subject of this invention, and showing the generalcharacteristics thereof;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view through the center ofthe tool of Figure 1 and showing the internal construction thereof;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View through the body andsleeve portion of the nail driving and setting tool of Figures 1 and 2,and showing the tool in the process of driving a nail into a hardbuilding surface; and,

Figure i is a bottom end view of the nail driving and setting tool ofFigure 1, the nail being omitted.

Similar characters of reference designate similar or identical elementsand portions throughout the specication and throughout the differentviews of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the nail driving and settingtool includes a tubular body portion I0 having an enlarged internal boreI2 throughout the major portion thereof and a reduced internal bore I4adjacent the lower end thereof. The transition from the enlargedinternal bore I2 to the reduced internal bore I4 results in an annularshoulder i5 adjacent the lower end of the body ID.

Mounted within the body IB is a sleeve I8. The sleeve I8 has an externaldiameter equal to substantially the diameter of the reduced bore I 4 andis mounted in the lower portion of the body Ii) for sliding movementwith respect thereto. The upper end of the sleeve I8 is provided with anenlarged, outwardly extending flange portion 2d having a diametersubstantially equal to the diameter of the enlarged internal bore l2,The enlarged portion 2D is disposed within the enlarged internal bore l2and slidably engages the wall thereof.

It is intended that the sleeve I8 be normally disposed within the bodyIB with the lower end portion thereof projecting downwardly andoutwardly of said body. However, the downward movement of the sleeve iiiwith respect to the body i3 is limited by the engagement of the lowerportion of the enlarged flange portion 2li with the annular shoulder I6.

Slidably mounted within the body portion' I0 is a nail driving shaft 22having an enlarged upper portion 24 of a diameter substantially equal tothe diameter of the enlarged internal bore I2. The nail driving shaft 22is also provided with a reduced lower portion 2S having a diametersubstantially equal to the internal diameter of the sleeve I8 and havingthe extreme lower end thereof siidably mounted within the sleeve I8.

Mounted within the enlarged internal bore I2 of the body IG is a coilspring 23 which is mounted over the reduced portion 26 of the naildriving shaft 22. The upper end of the coil spring 28 engages an annularshoulder Bil on the nail driving shaft 22 formed by the reduction indiameter of the shaft. The lower end of the coil spring 28 is disposedagainst the upper surface of the enlarged ange portion 2i) of the sleeveI8 and compressibly urges the enlarged i'iange portion 2d intoengagement with the annular shoulder iE.

The nail driving shaft 22 is provided with a reduced upper portion 32which projects outwardly and upwardly from the 'body portion I0. Thedriving shaft 22 is provided with an annular shoulder 34 formed by thereducing end thereof to form the reduced upper portion 32. Mounted overthe reduced upper end 32 and engaging the annular shoulder 3d is awasher 36. rThe washer 36 is retained on the driving shaft 22 and thedriving shaft is retained within the body il? by an inturned annularflange 38 integral with the upper end of the body I0.

In order that a nail, referred to in general by the reference numeral40, may be retained in engagement with the nail driving shaft 22 for thepurpose of driving the same into a hard building material, the naildriving shaft 22 is provided with a permanent magnet 42. While anysuitable permanent magnet may be utilized, it is preferred that themagnet 42 be of a hypermagnetic ferrous alloy. The magnet 42 is in theform of a cylindrical core and is received within a non-magnetic sleeve44 having a closed upper end 46. While it has been found that copper issuitable for forming the sleeve 44 and its closed upper end 46, it isnot intended to so limit the invention as other suitable non-magneticmetals and alloys may be used. The magnet 42 is retained within thesleeve 44 by a hardened metal core 48 whose lower end is ush with thelower end of the sleeve 44. It has been found that hard nickel is verysatisfactory, but other magnetic attractive metals and alloys which aresufficiently hard and do not become permanently magnetized will besatisfactory. The sleeve 44 and its associated magnet 42 and hard metalcorev 48 are mounted within a centrally located longitudinally extendingbore 50 in the lower end of the driving shaft 22.

It will be noted that the exterior of the body portion lil is knurled at52 and 54 to form a Suitable hand gripping surface. However, theknurling shown is merely one suggestive design and it is not intended tolimit the invention to such an arrangement.

Referring now to Figure 3 in particular, it will be seen that the nail40 is retained within the lower portion of the sleeve I8 at all timesduring the nail driving process whereby the danger of the nail flyingout from under the tool and striking the user ofthe tool is eliminated.When the nail 48 is lto be driven into a hard building material, whichis illustrated in Figure 3 and referred to by the reference numeral 56,the lower end of the sleeve I8 is placed on the surface of the buildingmaterial 56 in the desired position. The body portion I0 is then urgedtowards the building material 56 by the pressure of the hand in which itis held and at the same time the upper end 32 of the nail driving shaft22 is struck by a conventional hammer 58. When the upper end 32 of thenail driving shaft 22 is struck by the hammer 58, the sleeve i8telescopes within the body portion Ill and the nail driving shaft 22,the body portion I0 and the nail 40 move downwardly until the point ofthe nail 4Q engages the surface of the hard building material 56. Due tothe additional force exerted thereon and the hardness of the pointedend, the nail 40 penetrates the surface of the hardened buildingmaterial 56. Since the sleeve I8 cannot move, the nail driving shaft 22and the body portion I0 move downwardly and the sleeve continues totelescope within the body portion i0 and presses theV coil spring 2B.After the nail 40 has been driven into the building material 5d,pressure is released on the body portion I@ and the sleeve I8 isprojected downwardly from the lower end of the body portion by thecompression of the coil spring 28 to resume the position illustrated inFigure 2.

It will be understood that the nail 4B is a special hardened nail whichis designed specilically for driving into hard building materials suchas concrete, brick and steel. The nail 40 is a nail which iscommercially sold on the market at the present and is no part of thisinvention other than the fact that it is used with the improved naildriving and setting device, which is the subject of this invention.

The operation of this device will be understood from the foregoingdescription of the details thereof, taken in connection with the aboverecited objects and drawings. Further description would appear to beunnecessary.

Minor modification of the device, varying in minor details from theembodiment of the device illustrated and described here, may be resortedto without departure from the spirit and scope of this invention, asdefined in the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. A nail driving and setting device comprising an elongated tubularbody, a sleeve slidably mounted within said body, a driving shaftslidably mounted within said tubular body and said sleeve, means carriedby said driving shaft for retaining nails in engagement therewith, saidnail retaining means being a magnet disposed within the lower end ofdriving shaft, said magnet being seated within a sleeve of non-magneticmaterial mounted within a bore in the driving shaft, said magnet beingretained within said sleeve by a hardened core of magnetic attractivematerial.

2. A nail driving shaft having a hammer engaging end and a nail engagingend, the nail engaging end having a centrally located longitudinal boretherein, a magnetic core disposed within said bore and retained thereinby a hardened core of magnetic attractive material, said magnetic coreand said hardened core being mounted Within a sleeve of non-magneticmaterial.

3. A nail driving and setting device comprising an elongated tubularbody, a sleeve slidably mounted within said body, a driving shaftslidably mounted within said tubular body and said sleeve, means carriedby said driving shaft for retaining nails in engagement therewith, said5 nail retaining means being a magnet disposed Within the lower end ofdriving shaft, said magnet being seated within a sleeve of non-magneticmaterial mounted within a bore in the driving shaft, said magnet beingretained within said sleeve by a hardened core of magnetic attractivematerial, the upper portion of the driving shaft closely engaging theinterior of the tubular body, said driving shaft having a reduced lowerportion closely engaging the interior of said sleeve, the upper end ofthe tubular body being inwardly anged to retain said driving shafttherein, the driving shaft having a reduced upper end pro jecting beyondthe upper end of the tubular body for engagement by a hammer.

HOWARD J. VAN ORDEN.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 608,555 Nazel Aug. 2, 1898 1,052,846 Price Feb. 11, 19131,699,519 Brown Jan. 22, 1929 2,475,936 Allen July 12, 1949 2,543,942Shai Mar. 6, 1951 2,550,775 Clark May l, 1951

